Ask The Experts
Current mood: postal
Category: Life
Date: Tue Mar 14, 2006 1:37 am
Subject: Help! Blogger Thinks I'm a Spam Blog
I just attempted to post on my blog and was told it was "locked", because it was suspected of being a spam blog. I am in a panic, because I don't know why on earth they would assume this. And I'm not sure how to respond, other than to type in the letter verification. I do not allow comments on my blog for precisely this reason. I know nothing about web designing and have no idea how to add or remove any info except by using the basic "default " software Blogger provides.
My blog has a very high ranking. I don't know if that has anything to do with their thinking it's a spam blog. On Google, it's ranked first, second and third out of anywhere from about two million entries to over five million.
Does anyone have an address or a phone where I can plead my case to a human person? I have spent thousands of hours on this blog, and I would hate to lose it because of some robot's false report to the equally faceless and inaccessable powers - that - be at Blogger. Thanks for your help.
Connie
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Connie:This group is specifically for Blogger. Go here and maybe they can help more quickly. (url deleted by Deeplip) After you get this straightened out you may want to move the Blog to your own server if it is not there already.
Hope this helps.Roz
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you, Roz... but I don't know how to "move" anything to my server. I don't even know what that means. I just know how to type and press the send button.
At least I saved all my posts, by converting them to emails and mailing them to myself.
Even that was dicey, because when I'd try to copy a month of archived posts, sometimes they'd say I was "not authorized" to view the blog. I had to keep trying. Go figure.
Now if they poof me, I've at least saved everything I've written. I've spend many hours a day at this for the last eight months, and it kills me that they can just arbitrarily remove my blog.
I'm praying they don't, and I'll keep you posted.
I wish I knew enough to hang with you guys, you sound like an interesting and knowledgable bunch.
Thanks again
Connie
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Connie: Sometimes we are forced to learn when these unfortunate things happen. Learning can be very painful, but in the end it is a blessing. Try the other group as they may know who you can call or contact since they are specifically a Blogger help group. The group is active and they are quite helpful from what I can see. Just sign up, you can always leave. It may eliminate some of the worry.
When this is resolved you can also consider using a paid service like TypePad. I don't know much about their service, but they are a reputable company. That is the MovableType bunch. SixApart I believe. I am using WordPress now. I was able to install it through the Fantastico script in my cPanel. It is not hard to install manually either. The instructions are pretty specific. I am not sure, but there might be a conversion feature from Blogger.Can you get into Blogger at all? Seems everyone is probably sleeping here, I woke up and made the mistake of sitting down by the computer, but I am glad I did now IF I was at least a little help to you.
Roz
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Roz, as a retired, sixty nine year old woman who lives alone and struggles with the computer on a daily basis, I think your advice about the need to learn "life lessons" is a bit gratuitous.
I drive a car without knowing how to take it apart and repair it. I should be able to post a blog using Blogger's default software without being a web designer or a computer geek.
Learning would seem to be less necessary for me than for the idiot robots that lock a blog like mine. It is a personal journal with several hundred entries. Nothing but words. Not one picture, not one comment, no animation and no music. It's as if someone went to the library, checked out a book of short stories and without opening it, decided it was a Lands End catalog. They (Blogger) say a "human" will review my blog within a business day.
I'll let you know if that actually happens.
Best,
Connie
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Connie,
I hope your day is going well. I've been following your thread and some of the advice Roz provided is sound...nothing gratuitous that I can think of[1].Google is not asking you (nor is Roz) to become a computer geek or a web designer. Though we can all drive a car without knowing how to fix it, we should all *know the basics* of maintenance (my father taught me that one) - i.e. how to change a tire if it goes flat, how to check your oil regularly, how to add water, or change a wiper blade. Given, most of those basics have been replaced by AAA being a cell phonecall away - but it does the driver a great disservice by being in the dark about the methodology. Even if the driver cannot herself accomplish the task, she can end up being taken for a ride by the people who do. I don't believe Roz was asking you to become a computer geek or web designer, but at least learn the basics[2]. The web should be for everyone (notice I said, *should*), but there are a number of problems that can arise if people don't understand the basic language of the web. Google is cracking down on splogs[3] - though your blog may not be one, it obviously tripped some of Google's splog flag indicators, or someone(yes, a human someone) may have flagged your blog while viewing it.There's no need to panic - simply add your verification in the box and wait for Google to review the blog. If they determine that it's not a splog, it will be unlocked and you can continue to blog freely.
Please don't take my post the wrong way - just trying to offer another perspective.
Warm regards,~ Teli
[1] - Being older doesn't mean you're too old to learn something new. As
people, we should all strive to learn something new everyday regardless of age.
[2] - The basics are simply learning the basics of HTML. Understanding how the words on the page you type are constructed to be read by the viewer. That way, you can update your links (if you still have those "Edit Me" links - that'll flag Google). This doesn't make you a web designer - just an informed netizen.
[3] - Splogs are spam blogs, seeXXXXXXX for an explanation and links.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Teli Adlam is the owner and manager of the Teli Design Studioxxxxxxxxxx and can usually be found blogging at anumber of different locales, but mainly at her Destination: Success blog xxxxxxxxxx If you want to freshen up on your blogging lingo, consider a quick visit to Blogossary XXXXXXXXXXXXXX recently quoted in the NYTimes Mag.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anyone who compares things like adding wiper fluid and checking tire pressure to learning HTML is beyond reasoning with.
But I agree, we all should "strive to learn something new" Perhaps Teli should take up the bassoon, so she can experience the joy of mastering a difficult musical instrument - or sit herself down with dozens of back issues of the Sunday Times Magazine, ball point pen in hand, and complete all the puns and anagrams puzzles. For a long term project, how about a book or a screenplay? Maybe a musical? A mind is a terrible thing to waste.
If she enjoys working with her hands, why not build a house? And make her own clothes. And grow her own food.
Just imagine how competent and self-actualized we all could be if only we stopped whining and expecting other people to solve our problems for us.
(Deeplip)
UPDATE: I set up my blog with the help of LS blogs and Blogger, who walked me through it step by step, even supplying "dummy links" so I could insert some links of my own.
My blog has no links on anyone else's blog, as far as I know. I don't know HTML, and don't use any key words or metatags. I don't do anything that would explain the fact that my blog ranks so high. Although I'd love to believe the whole world is reading it, I know this isn't the case.
I have no explanation for its "success". I wonder if other people are somehow embedding their links in it because it is ranked number one - and two and three - on Google out of millions of entries.
Can a blog be a "carrier" for other people's tags and links, and could I be "spamming" without knowing it?
Please email me with thoughts and theories, if you have any.
( Deeplip, who is clueless.)
Current mood: postal
Category: Life
Date: Tue Mar 14, 2006 1:37 am
Subject: Help! Blogger Thinks I'm a Spam Blog
I just attempted to post on my blog and was told it was "locked", because it was suspected of being a spam blog. I am in a panic, because I don't know why on earth they would assume this. And I'm not sure how to respond, other than to type in the letter verification. I do not allow comments on my blog for precisely this reason. I know nothing about web designing and have no idea how to add or remove any info except by using the basic "default " software Blogger provides.
My blog has a very high ranking. I don't know if that has anything to do with their thinking it's a spam blog. On Google, it's ranked first, second and third out of anywhere from about two million entries to over five million.
Does anyone have an address or a phone where I can plead my case to a human person? I have spent thousands of hours on this blog, and I would hate to lose it because of some robot's false report to the equally faceless and inaccessable powers - that - be at Blogger. Thanks for your help.
Connie
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Connie:This group is specifically for Blogger. Go here and maybe they can help more quickly. (url deleted by Deeplip) After you get this straightened out you may want to move the Blog to your own server if it is not there already.
Hope this helps.Roz
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you, Roz... but I don't know how to "move" anything to my server. I don't even know what that means. I just know how to type and press the send button.
At least I saved all my posts, by converting them to emails and mailing them to myself.
Even that was dicey, because when I'd try to copy a month of archived posts, sometimes they'd say I was "not authorized" to view the blog. I had to keep trying. Go figure.
Now if they poof me, I've at least saved everything I've written. I've spend many hours a day at this for the last eight months, and it kills me that they can just arbitrarily remove my blog.
I'm praying they don't, and I'll keep you posted.
I wish I knew enough to hang with you guys, you sound like an interesting and knowledgable bunch.
Thanks again
Connie
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Connie: Sometimes we are forced to learn when these unfortunate things happen. Learning can be very painful, but in the end it is a blessing. Try the other group as they may know who you can call or contact since they are specifically a Blogger help group. The group is active and they are quite helpful from what I can see. Just sign up, you can always leave. It may eliminate some of the worry.
When this is resolved you can also consider using a paid service like TypePad. I don't know much about their service, but they are a reputable company. That is the MovableType bunch. SixApart I believe. I am using WordPress now. I was able to install it through the Fantastico script in my cPanel. It is not hard to install manually either. The instructions are pretty specific. I am not sure, but there might be a conversion feature from Blogger.Can you get into Blogger at all? Seems everyone is probably sleeping here, I woke up and made the mistake of sitting down by the computer, but I am glad I did now IF I was at least a little help to you.
Roz
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Roz, as a retired, sixty nine year old woman who lives alone and struggles with the computer on a daily basis, I think your advice about the need to learn "life lessons" is a bit gratuitous.
I drive a car without knowing how to take it apart and repair it. I should be able to post a blog using Blogger's default software without being a web designer or a computer geek.
Learning would seem to be less necessary for me than for the idiot robots that lock a blog like mine. It is a personal journal with several hundred entries. Nothing but words. Not one picture, not one comment, no animation and no music. It's as if someone went to the library, checked out a book of short stories and without opening it, decided it was a Lands End catalog. They (Blogger) say a "human" will review my blog within a business day.
I'll let you know if that actually happens.
Best,
Connie
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Connie,
I hope your day is going well. I've been following your thread and some of the advice Roz provided is sound...nothing gratuitous that I can think of[1].Google is not asking you (nor is Roz) to become a computer geek or a web designer. Though we can all drive a car without knowing how to fix it, we should all *know the basics* of maintenance (my father taught me that one) - i.e. how to change a tire if it goes flat, how to check your oil regularly, how to add water, or change a wiper blade. Given, most of those basics have been replaced by AAA being a cell phonecall away - but it does the driver a great disservice by being in the dark about the methodology. Even if the driver cannot herself accomplish the task, she can end up being taken for a ride by the people who do. I don't believe Roz was asking you to become a computer geek or web designer, but at least learn the basics[2]. The web should be for everyone (notice I said, *should*), but there are a number of problems that can arise if people don't understand the basic language of the web. Google is cracking down on splogs[3] - though your blog may not be one, it obviously tripped some of Google's splog flag indicators, or someone(yes, a human someone) may have flagged your blog while viewing it.There's no need to panic - simply add your verification in the box and wait for Google to review the blog. If they determine that it's not a splog, it will be unlocked and you can continue to blog freely.
Please don't take my post the wrong way - just trying to offer another perspective.
Warm regards,~ Teli
[1] - Being older doesn't mean you're too old to learn something new. As
people, we should all strive to learn something new everyday regardless of age.
[2] - The basics are simply learning the basics of HTML. Understanding how the words on the page you type are constructed to be read by the viewer. That way, you can update your links (if you still have those "Edit Me" links - that'll flag Google). This doesn't make you a web designer - just an informed netizen.
[3] - Splogs are spam blogs, seeXXXXXXX for an explanation and links.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Teli Adlam is the owner and manager of the Teli Design Studioxxxxxxxxxx and can usually be found blogging at anumber of different locales, but mainly at her Destination: Success blog xxxxxxxxxx If you want to freshen up on your blogging lingo, consider a quick visit to Blogossary XXXXXXXXXXXXXX recently quoted in the NYTimes Mag.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anyone who compares things like adding wiper fluid and checking tire pressure to learning HTML is beyond reasoning with.
But I agree, we all should "strive to learn something new" Perhaps Teli should take up the bassoon, so she can experience the joy of mastering a difficult musical instrument - or sit herself down with dozens of back issues of the Sunday Times Magazine, ball point pen in hand, and complete all the puns and anagrams puzzles. For a long term project, how about a book or a screenplay? Maybe a musical? A mind is a terrible thing to waste.
If she enjoys working with her hands, why not build a house? And make her own clothes. And grow her own food.
Just imagine how competent and self-actualized we all could be if only we stopped whining and expecting other people to solve our problems for us.
(Deeplip)
UPDATE: I set up my blog with the help of LS blogs and Blogger, who walked me through it step by step, even supplying "dummy links" so I could insert some links of my own.
My blog has no links on anyone else's blog, as far as I know. I don't know HTML, and don't use any key words or metatags. I don't do anything that would explain the fact that my blog ranks so high. Although I'd love to believe the whole world is reading it, I know this isn't the case.
I have no explanation for its "success". I wonder if other people are somehow embedding their links in it because it is ranked number one - and two and three - on Google out of millions of entries.
Can a blog be a "carrier" for other people's tags and links, and could I be "spamming" without knowing it?
Please email me with thoughts and theories, if you have any.
( Deeplip, who is clueless.)
posted by Deeplip at 10:37 AM
<< Home